An Odd Year for Oscar

New York Magazine film critic David Edelstein and film producer Lynda Obst traditionally exchange e-mails leading up to the Oscars. Excerpted here is Lynda's response to David's opening salvo.

This is a very odd year. The East Coasters love it because it's so arty, and the Left Coasters hate it because it's so arty. Here, it's considered a year for the "classics" divisions of studios, which exist for prestige, to attract filmmakers, and for the occasional breakthrough hit.

It is not a big year for the studios. In many ways, it is the Battle of the Tinies. This is the year the Oscars turned into the Independent Spirit Awards, when no one can really learn or generalize from anything that happens so everyone is sort of depressed and disengaged, because it's not like they can go back to their studios after the ball and make Capote.

Read the whole feature here.